—3rd Person POV—

Catching up to Caranthir and several lower-ranking members of the Hunt, Ciri launched a Fire Spell at the group to get their attention. Using Ciri’s spell to hide her movement, Ghislane came up behind it and attacked the mages as they went to block the spell. Decapitating several of them with a swift swing of her blade, their front line quickly faltered.

 

“Ah, well look who finally graced us with her presence…Cirlla Fiona Elen Riannon.”, Caranthir said, surprised to see her here, “I assume you came with that Abomination of a human, the one called Cole.”

 

“That is right, he is off kicking Imlerith’s ass right now. He left your sorry excuse of a man for us to slay.”, Ciri remarked, drawing her steel blade, “I have waited a long time for this day, I am done running from you!! Today the hunters become the hunted!”

 

“Haha, you are well out of your league girl.”, Caranthir laughed, pushing his men aside as he walked toward her, “King Eredin has bestowed upon me a power beyond your comprehension. While the King did demand we bring you back alive, he said nothing about your friend here. After I kill her and break your legs, I will drag you back to King Eredin myself. Turning you over to him will guarantee that I receive even more blessings from him!”

 

“Enough talking, bring it on Elf!”, Ghislaine demanded, letting her inner beast run wild, “I have been waiting for a good fight, now show me what you got!!”

 

Launching herself at Caranthir, the Elven Mage turned intangible and readied himself to counter her once the blade passed through him. Barely catching a glimpse of her blade, a large gash in his breastplate appeared along with a searing pain. Stumbling backward, Caranthir let out a scream of pain as blood began to spray from the wound. Turning himself tangible again, he immediately began using Healing Magic on himself to close the wound.

 

Rushing forward to cover their leader, the lower-ranking members formed a shield wall and erected a barrier around them. Undeterred by this, Ghislaine let out a battle cry and unleashed a torrent of slashes with her blade which shattered the barrier like glass. Mortified by what they were seeing, several soldiers dove out of the way as Ghislaine bisected those stupid enough not to move. Covering the men with their comrade's blood, the surviving grunts cried out in fear as they ran to Caranthir’s side.

 

“Come on, I want to see you fight!! Stop running away!!”, Ghislaine said, slipping into a blood frenzy.

 

“Away with you wench!!”, Caranthir shouted, switching Healing to Teleportation Magic, “Our business is with the girl, not you!!”

 

Sensing what he was about to do, Ciri immediately countered his spell before it could activate.

 

“Absolute Cancel!”, Ciri chanted, using the knowledge she gained from Merlin to protect her friend.

 

Hearing his spell shatter, the Elf pulled one of his men in front of him and used him as a shield. Bisecting the soldier with a single swing, Caranthir let out a squeal of terror as he backpedaled away. Ordering his remaining soldiers to buy him time to reach the reactor, all of them looked at him like he was insane. Having watched Ghislaine butcher their comrades like they were not even there, none of them wanted to fight her now.

 

“I said, buy me-”, Caranthir repeated, as an ear-piercing scream brought everyone to their knees.

 

Realizing that the scream was coming from Imlerith, a bright ball of light engulfed the area where he was supposed to be fighting. Recalling what his King had mentioned about Cole’s power, he knew that Imlerith’s life and power were being forcibly ripped from him. Opening a gate to pull him through, instead of Imlerith, a portion of the Ray Sphere Blast surged through, engulfing the surrounding area.

 

Caught within the surging energy, the grunts began to scream in pain as Cole inadvertently siphoned away their bioelectrical energy and life span. Reaching out to their leader, who narrowly avoided being caught by the blast, they pleaded for him to save them.

 

“HELP US, LORD CARANTHIR!!”, the men screamed, reaching their hands out toward him, “SAVE US!!”

 

Feeling nothing for the grunts and knowing what would happen if he touched the energy, Caranthir turned his back to them and began running toward the reactor. Calling out for him to come back, he glanced over his shoulder and told them the brutal truth.

 

“King Eredin can easily replace disposable pawns like you with a snap of his fingers. That said, I will ensure that all of your names are etched in our people’s history books for your noble sacrifices here.”, Caranthir remarked, before blowing his horn to summon monsters and humanoid Nova.

 

Ordering his spawned horde to buy him time, Caranthir abandoned catching Ciri for the moment and returned to his initial goal. Chasing after him, the horde of monsters blocked their path making pursuing him difficult.

 

“Go, I will handle them!”, Ghislaine told Ciri.

 

“Are you sure?”, Ciri asked, not wanting to abandon her friend.

 

“Yes, I will catch up with you shortly.”, Ghislaine said, with a smirk.

 

Hesitantly agreeing to go, Ciri warped behind the horde and started running after Caranthir. Turning her attention back to the horde in front of her, Ghislaine cracked her neck as a bloodthirsty smile crept onto her face.

 

“I have not been this excited for a fight in a long time. When this is all over, I will have to thank Cole and Ciri for this!”, she said, gripping her sword with both hands, “Come on you bastards, time to die!!”

 

—Cole POV—

Turning Imlerith and his horde of monsters into ashes, all of them were quickly blown away by the brutally cold Alaskan winds. Looking back at the group of Pandora, I told them to go aid their comrades as they would certainly need backup against the Humanoid Nova.

 

“What about you, where are you going?”, Elizabeth asked, not worrying about introductions given the circumstances, “Are you not coming with us?”

 

“No, right now another powerful fighter is headed toward the Solar Reactor. I believe they intend to cause a meltdown and take this world’s strongest defenders out in one fell swoop.”, I remarked, “If Dr. Ohara or Aoi are on base, I suggest also having a few people go protect them as well.”

 

“Is my grandfather somehow involved in this?”, Kazuya asked.

 

“No, but both of them have the keys necessary to reach where the Nova and Wild Hunt came from.”, I told him, “I can explain it to you after we secure the base. For now, you are going to need to trust me.”

 

“Very well, I look forward to hearing the details of what has been happening recently to our world.”, Chiffon said, with a smirk.

 

“Haha, I would honestly think someone as closely involved as you would know what is happening. After all, you are Gengo’s youngest daughter.”, I chuckled.

 

Watching her smirk turn into disbelief, she was about to ask me how I knew but I shot into the sky before she could. Checking in on Ghislaine and Ciri, I discovered that the two of them had split up because of another horde of monsters. Noticing that Ghislaine was getting overwhelmed by the Humanoid Nova, as they moved at supersonic speeds, I dropped down with a Thunder Drop on the horde obliterating most of them in one go.

 

“Sorry for the delay!”, I said, punching a hole through one of the Nova, “You doing alright?”

 

“Yeah…never better…”, Ghislaine replied, covered in cuts and burns.

 

“Give me a second, I will patch you up.”, I told her, vaporizing the remaining enemies with Omega Beams.

 

Quickly healing her injuries, Ghislaine wiped the blood from her blade and sheathed it. Motioning for her to follow me, the two of us ran after Ciri. Following the trail of damaged flooring and walls, we caught up to the two of them fighting in the control room. Currently locked in a battle of magical prowess, Caranthir was being beaten back by Ciri’s overwhelming power. Noticing our arrival, Caranthir pulled a Krillin and tried to use a blinding flash to cover himself to reach the control board.

 

“Haha, this is my victory again Cirilla!”, the Elf laughed, swinging his staff toward the panel.

 

“You tried it..”, I remarked, appearing between the panel and him, “Unfortunately you were too slow.”

 

Grabbing his staff, I shattered it with my left hand causing a large explosion. Encasing him and the explosion in a barrier, Caranthir was blown to bits inside without a sound.